Heffay wrote:
I wonder if there will be a 34 page thread about this travesty of justice...
No, but in the interest of putting more information out about it, here is some more information [emphasis mine]:
Saying he had no discretion under state law, a judge sentenced a Jacksonville, Florida, woman to 20 years in prison Friday for firing a warning shot in an effort to scare off her abusive husband.
Marissa Alexander unsuccessfully tried to use Florida's controversial "stand your ground" law to derail the prosecution, but a jury in March convicted her of aggravated assault after just 12 minutes of deliberation.
The case, which was prosecuted by the same state attorney who is handling the Trayvon Martin case, has gained the attention of civil rights leaders who say the African-American woman was persecuted because of her race.
...
'Stand your ground' plea rejected.
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Corey said the case deserved to be prosecuted because Alexander fired in the direction of a room where two children were standing.
Alexander said she was attempting to flee her husband, Rico Gray, on August 1, 2010, when she picked up a handgun and fired a shot into a wall.
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She said her husband had read cell phone text messages that she had written to her ex-husband, got angry and tried to strangle her.
She said she escaped and ran to the garage, intending to drive away. But, she said, she forgot her keys, so she picked up her gun and went back into the house. She said her husband threatened to kill her, so she fired one shot.
"I believe when he threatened to kill me, that's what he was absolutely going to do," she said. "That's what he intended to do. Had I not discharged my weapon at that point, I would not be here."
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But a previous judge in the case rejected the request, saying Alexander's decision to go back into the house was not consistent with someone in fear for her safety, according to the Florida Times Union newspaper.
So we have her leaving the premises, then re-entering with a gun to get her keys. She could have fled on foot because it does not appear that he was following her. She then was threatened, she discharges her weapon not at the threat, but near him- firing into a room with children present. There are some issues here which I would love to see explained in the testimony which I have not been able to locate yet.
I'm still not saying she should get 20 years, or even 20 days yet, but the article which was thin on facts painted this incident in a very different manner.
[Edited to revise and extend my remarks]